Honduras

Mercy Weaver of Dreams Program

Mercy Weaver of Dreams Program (Programa de la Misericordia Tejedora de Sueños) is a women’s group that supports the spirituality of non-violence and healing. The Center for Religious Tolerance has helped support this program for two years through our Mini-Grant Program. This project creates an environment in which present day conflicts in Honduras can be resolved non-violently, by training a select number of young and indigenous women in alternatives to violence. The hope is that through the training process, women begin to heal the multiple forms of trauma created by a context of personal/public violence. With the help of our most recent mini-grant, Dream Weavers conducted a series of workshops on Trauma Healing and Alternatives to Violence with women in two of the poorest neighborhoods in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

Kenya

Mpanzi

Obogima – Promoting Peaceful, Just And Harmonious Life In Rural Villages Free From Violence Against Women And Girls. Kenya – This project will conduct forums in four Kenyan villages to educate communities about sexual and domestic violence against girls and women. The project is being funded for a second year.

Mpanzi – “Combating Violence Against Women in Africa”

United States

Community Radio: “Let’s Talk About the Middle East”

“Let’s Talk About the Middle East” is co-hosted by CRT’s Andy Blanch and Juliana Musheyev on WSLR 96.5, Sarasota’s community radio station. The show focuses broadly on Middle Eastern politics, culture, religion, and history. It aims to humanize the conflict in Israel and Palestine as well as other conflicts in the Middle East by interviewing people that have a stake in the issues.

Women’s Interfaith Network

The Women’s Interfaith Network invites women of all ages, abilities, beliefs, cultures, faiths and races to learn about and value our similarities and differences. We work to eradicate stereotypes and prejudice beginning in our own communities in order to promote our common humanity and build a peaceful world. The Women’s Interfaith Network (WIN) of Sarasota-Bradenton completed its fifth year of activities in December 2012. Currently, there are over 100 members representing a variety of religious orientations, including Judaism, several forms of Christianity, Islam, Wiccan, Humanism, and Metaphysical as well as indigenous and spiritual traditions. WIN’s mission is to work towards understanding and cooperation across religious, racial, ethnic, cultural and national boundaries.

Working with Local Youth

Through our Young Peacemakers initiative, the CRT has reached out to local youth in Sarasota County to help create the new generation of people working towards peace. In 2010 we partners with the United Religions Initiative to create a six-month study in Sarasota High School called, “Healing Racism”. We also pilot tested a program that provided training for teachers in Sarasota High School in how to create conflict-free classrooms and defuse potentially threatening situations. The initiative was funded by a small grant from Teaching Tolerance, an initiative of the Southern Poverty Law Center. CRT also provides internship opportunities in the United States and Israel for local high school and college students. Students get a chance to meet the peacemakers in person, organize interfaith events, and use their own skills and talents to help build a more peaceful future (Unfortunately, with rare exceptions we cannot fund travel or housing costs.)

Read Jason’s blog from his internship in Israel during the summer of 2010.

Religious Courage Award

This award will be given by CRT to an individual who has spoken or acted with courage to promote interfaith understanding, religious tolerance, diversity, and/or social justice. The goals of the award are: 1) to keep alive the memory and spirit of Ms. Elisabeth Schilder and her students; and 2) to bring attention to individuals and groups who represent that spirit in action in today’s world. The award will be presented at World Peace Day, an annual event sponsored by the South West Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice.

The 2015 Elizabeth Schilder Religious Courage award was given to Pastor Carl vom Eigen of Tarpon Springs. A retired Presbyterian Minister, Pastor Carl is Treasurer of Peace4Tarpon; serves youth in the community as a tutor, mentor, and guardian ad litem; and has led interfaith discussions regarding sacred texts. By creating opportunities for citizens to speak out – particularly those who have been forgotten or subjected to social injustice – he demonstrates that the sum of seemingly ordinary acts can add up to an extraordinary life.

Other CRT Projects:

Women’s Interfaith Leadership Development

In 2007, a 3-day meeting of fifteen women from across the Middle East – five Jews, five Muslims, and five Christians – was held in Amman, Jordan. Women were selected on the basis of religious affiliation, experience with peace building, leadership capacity, and commitment to working in an interfaith context. Intensive workshops, dialogue and planning led to the development of a model for developing women’s interfaith leadership.

Garden of the Mothers

Trust-Emun opened the Garden of the Mothers in 2011 at the Community Center of Daliat HaCarmel, a Druze village in northern Israel. The garden, which includes a stone engraved with the park’s name and 44 trees planted in honor of families affected by a regional forest fire, serves as a place for women’s peace gatherings.

Healing Trauma

In 2012, a six-part course was held dealing with various aspects of trauma, including working with the body (sensory-motor psychotherapy) and self-regulatory techniques. Participants included 14 local professionals – two clinical psychologists, three educational psychologists and eight social workers – to increase the likelihood that knowledge would filter down into the wider community.
Read the Final Report

Children Building Peace

In 2012, the Association for the Commemoration of Bat-Chen Shahak brought together Jewish and Arab Israeli school children living in two neighboring communities in the central area of Israel — Lev Hasharon and Tira. The goal was for the children to get to know each other and to learn about each other’s culture, community and religion. Together they designed and built a “peace pole” which was signed by each child and placed in each school’s play yard.

Reiki for Peace

This project, conducted in 2012, established two free reiki clinics for peacemakers in the West Bank, one for men and one for women. The clinics were staffed by an interfaith team of volunteers and practitioners, and were designed to help students learn to trust each other at a level far deeper than words can effect, leading to reduced tensions and the development of open communication, trust, and friendship.

1325 – Woman and Peace

This project, also known as 1325 Women Making Peace and Women 4 Peace, is an ongoing online social enterprise dedicated to issues concerning women and peace. The project developed two online initiatives – a website and a facebook page – and held one field meeting, a workshop on the creation of an online campaign for peace.

MerMer (Narmati)

This project used Voice-in-Movement Integration, which releases women’s natural musicality and frees up both expressivity and listening, to enhance connections, understanding, and teamwork among Palestinian and Jewish educators at the David Yellin Academic College in Jerusalem. A total of 8 workshops were held in 2013 – 2014.

About C-R-T

CRT promotes peace and social justice through spiritually based interfaith activities. Our work is guided by principles of fairness and compassion, grounded in an abiding belief in the unity of human consciousness, and nourished by faith